Just over a year ago, we posted plans filed with the SWFWMD that detailed a new drop tower attraction for Busch Gardens Tampa. Today, after digging through the Federal Aviation Administration website, we discovered a document filed last January seeking approval to build that attraction. According to the document, the new drop tower will consist of a 304ft tall drop section and a 26ft tall machine cabinet, for a total of a 330ft tower, making it the tallest ride at Busch Gardens Tampa:

Project is an amusement park attraction: a monopole +/- 12′ dia. round steel tube approx. 304′ high. On top of the tube is a cylindrically-shaped steel machine room and open rail +/- 20′ dia. and approx 26′ high. A +/- 59’ dia. seat system moves up and down around the tube as a part of the ride.

SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, operators of the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks, have filed a new trademark for the name “Falcon’s Fury” for use as an “amusement park ride”. Since trademarks are filed by parent companies, the specific park in which they will be used isn’t included. However, we know Busch Gardens Tampa is getting a new attraction and relocating an existing one for the 2013 season, so it’s very likely going to be used there.

Since we already know that their new drop tower will be called “Desert Dive“, “Falcon’s Fury” will probably be the new name for the relocated Sandstorm attraction. According to plans filed with the SWFWMD back in February, Sandstorm is being relocated to an area just between the Bird Gardens and Morocco section of the park. A bird themed name appears to be quite fitting, given the attractions new location and the prominence of Falcon’s in Morocco.

What do you think of the name Falcon’s Fury? Do you think it’s a fitting name for the relocated Sandstorm attraction? Or do you think the name is intended for a completely different attraction? Be sure to let us know in the comment section below, on our Forums, or our Facebook page!

On May 2nd, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, the owners/operators of Busch Gardens Tampa, filed a new trademark application for the name Desert Dive and registered the domain name DesertDive.com. Since the park’s new drop tower planned for 2013 will be going into the Timbuktu section of the park, it would only seem logical that these registrations are for the new attraction.

However, just because the park has trademarked the name doesn’t mean it’s the final name they’ve chosen for the attraction. We saw an excellent example of this back in 2010 when SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment registered the name “Cheetaka“. This was widely believed to be the final name for Busch Garden’s new Cheetah themed roller coaster, but it was changed at the last minute to “Cheetah Hunt“.

Below is a screenshot of the trademark application. What do you think of the name? Do you think it should change, or will this be the name of the 2013 drop tower? Let us know in the comments below, or on our forums!

TAMPA, Fla. (April 10, 2012)– Join the fiesta at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay every Sunday, April 15 through May 6, during Viva la Música. Viva la Música features food, drink, music and fun for the entire family, bringing together live salsa and merengue performances from award-winning Latin artists, authentic arts and crafts, and regional Latin cuisine.

Florida’s oldest restaurant, The Columbia, will be serving two signature items from its award-winning Spanish/Cuban menu: The Original “1905” Salad and Paella de Pollo. Local favorite La Teresita, whose authentic cuisine and great prices attract fans nationwide, will offer a selection of its traditional Latin fare. You’ll also enjoy authentic dishes by Busch Gardens’ culinary team, including ropa vieja, papas and empanadas.

Viva la Música begins at 12 p.m. each Sunday, and the concerts start at 3 p.m. on Gwazi Field:

April 15 Victor Manuelle

April 22 Grupo Mania

April 29 Dyland & Lenny

May 6 Jerry Rivera

Guests can reserve the best seat in house for their favorite acts with the Viva la Música VIP Ticket. The VIP ticket is $25.99 and includes a meal (entrée and any one item from a selection of side salads, side dishes or desserts, plus a regular-sized non-alcoholic beverage) at any Viva La Música food sampling area or Busch Gardens restaurant*, plus reserved seating at center stage. Reserved seating can also be purchased separately for $19.99. VIP tickets and reserved seating are available for sale online at BuschGardens.com and in-park at the Adventure Outpost store, located near the front gate.*Meal Certificate is valid at all restaurant locations except the full-service Crown Colony Restaurant.

Can’t decide which performance to attend? With a 2012 Fun Card, you can “pay for a day, play all year” and catch them all! The 2012 Busch Gardens Fun Card is valid from the date of purchase through Dec. 31, 2012 and is available at the Busch Gardens’ front gate, online at BuschGardens.com or by calling (888) 800-5447.

Plans filed with the South West Florida Water Management District last week confirm the rumors that Busch Gardens Tampa will be adding a drop tower style attraction for the 2013 season. The plans filed are just for the preliminary ground work, so they don’t tell us much, but we can still pull a few bits of useful information out of them.

For starters, we can make a pretty educated guess about the ride’s manufacturer, which has been thought to be either Moser Rides, (BGW just worked with them on Mach Tower) or Intamin (BGT just worked with them on Cheetah Hunt). Looking at the tower’s footprint, we can see it has eight sets of four seats, for a total of 32 riders. Intamin appears to only offer drop towers that seat 24, 30, or 40 riders, while Moser Rides offers a Gravity Tower model that seats 32. This certainly doesn’t confirm Moser as the manufacturer, but it does make it seem much more likely.

Another interesting item to note is the new entry plaza into Timbuktu that Busch Gardens will be adding. Gone will be the canvas overhangs and outdoor market, creating a much more open, and likely incredible view of this new attraction.

We previously reported that the plans for the 2013 attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa called for the relocation of the Sandstorm ride, which is currently located in the Timbuktu section of the park. The ride’s new home has been a topic of debate over the past week, with guesses of its new location ranging from Nairobi to Egypt to the Bird Gardens. Thanks to permits filed with the Southwest Florida Water Management District last week, we now know Sandstorm will be moved into the Morocco section of the park, right across from Gwazi Gliders. We’ve included several images below detailing the new location of Sandstorm:

It’s been rumored for the past few months that Busch Gardens Tampa would be getting a new attraction for 2013, an attraction that would likely replace the Sandstorm attraction in the Timbuktu section of the park.We got confirmation of this today, thanks to new permits filed with the City of Tampa. The permit says:

RELOC EX “SANDSTORM”;CNSTR “2013 RIDE”

Which, in plain English, means they will be relocating the existing Sandstorm ride and starting construction on their “2013 ride“. Here’s screenshot of the permit:

While we still don’t know exactly what the new ride will be, rumors suggest that it could be some kind of drop tower ride, something which the park doesn’t have. Considering Busch Gardens Williamsburg just got a new drop tower last year, Mach Tower, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched for Busch Gardens Tampa to get a similar attraction. Now we just wait until an official announcement is made.

TAMPA (February 1, 2012) — For more than five decades, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has set the industry’s standard for delivering unforgettable entertainment experiences, with Broadway-style stage spectaculars like KaTonga: Musical Tales From the Jungle and innovative ice shows like World Rhythms on Ice.…